So how did he calm his nerves when it was finally time to
take the Flying Monkey Arts stage on March 29?

"One word: Alcohol," Fox says with a laugh.

All credit due to Yuengling Lager aside, Fox, then
Nashville-based, also tried to convince himself the Huntsville gig captured on
his new EP "Further Thoughts & Provocations" was "just another show on the
calendar." "But of course in the back of my head I'm thinking about, 'Oh, what
if I go onstage and pee my pants?'" Fox, 24, says.

Material captured on the EP addresses subjects including, "the
elections from 2012, as well as some material on gay marriage, religion," Fox
says. "There's a section of jokes on that didn't make the final edit of the
first album (2012's "Unamerican"), I call them 'The Island Of Misfit Jokes.' They're
more Mitch Hedberg-y type jokes about random stuff."

When called for this phone interview, Fox is at his Portland
apartment. He relocated to Portland in June, psyched to dig into that city's
burgeoning comedy scene and has been writing material that's "more about where
I came from and who I am."

What does he miss about living in The South?

"There's no hot chicken out here. There's a bunch of hot
chicken shacks in Nashville, and there's one here and it pales in comparison. 'You
call this hot chicken? This isn't hot.'"

0

"Further Thoughts & Provocations" is currently available
as a free download on rileyfoxcomedy.com.

3 ½

The night he was to record the EP, Fox and four other
Nashville comics "packed rather intimately" into a tiny Chevy Volt hybrid
electric-car for the drive to Huntsville. It was pouring rain, transforming the
normally relaxing two-hour trek from Nashville to the Rocket City into an
intense three-and-a-half hour slog.

200

And when Fox finally arrived at the Flying Monkey, the room
was filled with more than 200 people, which was "the largest audience they'd
had to date and it was because of the live album." None of the above factors
helped sooth his nerves about recording the performance. Despite a couple of
early minor flubs in the set, Fox says, "The crowd was really cool and it was just
a really fun, fun show."

25

The 25-minute "Further Thoughts & Provocations" contains
"essentially all" of Fox's March 29 Huntsville set. "I basically just took that
show and cut it up into tracks."

12 p.m.

Fox's recent shows in Portland have included sets at such expected
comedy venues as a restaurant called Chinese Village, the old-school arcade
Ground Kontrol and a noon Saturday gig at brunch spot Club 21. Asked about the
latter performance, Riley says "The bottomless mimosas definitely help there."